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Skydiving Fatalities: 2005: North America: Hard landing after main and reserve entanglement

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Hard landing after main and reserve entanglement

	Location		Jump Information
Date:	2005-05-01	Category:	Reserve Problems
Country:	United States	Factors:	Gear Issues
State:	Texas	Jump Type:	Relative Work
Drop Zone:	Skydive Dallas
	Gear		Personal Information
Container:	Javelin	Sex:	Male
Main:	Spectre 135	Age:	55
Reserve:	PD Reserve 143	Jumps:	4000+
AAD:	CYPRES	Years in Sport:	11
RSL:	Not Reported	Name:	John Appleton
Description
After an uneventful RW dive the jumper opened with some sort of malfunction. When he tried to release the main one side cleanly released but the other side hesitated. The jumper pulled the reserve handle before he was clear of the malfunctioned and half cutaway main and the reserve entangled with the main. The main was later released, but the reserve remained entangled with the main and only partially inflated until impact.
Lessons
One or more of his lines wrapped around the left main side flap." Sun Path co-owner Derek Thomas told SKYDIVING last month. There were friction burn marks on the flap. Also, the "bottom-corner boxing" of the left-hand corner of the main container was ripped open to within an inch or so of the pack tray, Thomas said, indicating considerable force had been applied to the side flap. Thomas believes the left-hand riser didn't separate from the harness for that reason.